Lucas's body fell to the ground when a single slash from Prince Alpha, Ezra Thorn's sharp claw, wounded his chest. Even so, Lucas showed no sign of defeat as he confidently pulled up the corners of his lips to reveal his vampire fangs.
Ezra was annoyed by Lucas's reaction, which seemed to be mocking him. But suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his back.
That's why Lucas didn't feel defeated by the injury. He had also managed to wound Ezra with the dagger he was carrying. Lucas was even sure that the size of the wound he had inflicted on Ezra's back was the same as the one Ezra had made on his chest. The only difference was the pain, because it wasn't an ordinary dagger.
"Damn it!" Ezra collapsed to the ground, clutching his wound.
Meanwhile, Lucas stood up and walked toward Ezra. His sly smile remained etched on his face. He then showed the dagger covered in Ezra's blood and licked it in front of Ezra.
"Hm... A prince's blood is truly fresh," Lucas said, putting away his dagger and walking away.
Ezra clenched his fists in anger at Lucas's arrogant attitude. The pain was so intense that Ezra imagined his death. However, a glimpse of Grace's face flashed through his mind.
"Ah, I can't die before making sure Grace is safe with someone." His thoughts of death instantly disappeared.
Still moaning in pain, Ezra tried to stand up again.
"You're wrong if you think living among humans will make you stronger, Lucas!" Ezra shouted.
"Shut up and don't talk about what you don't know!" Lucas replied.
"You... you are a curse to humanity. Argh..." Ezra collapsed back to the ground from the pain of Lucas' dagger.
Lucas stopped in his tracks and sighed deeply. He didn't want to fight. But Ezra always started it first whenever they met. Lucas thought what happened in the past didn't always have to be brought up.
"Ezra, you're the one who always starts a fight every time you see me."
"You crazy bastard! Don't you remember that you're the one who crippled my father?!"
"I came into human life only to serve my sentence. Not to talk about the past." Lucas changed the subject.
Yes, it's not Lucas's choice to live an active life and interact directly with humans. He also would be burned if he stayed under the sun for too long, and humans are always active when the sun is out, while everyone sleeps at night.
For that reason alone, Lucas needs a lot of energy. The Aetheris Lux necklace alone won't be enough to keep him safe under the sun.
He didn't want that life.
Lucas put on his hood and prepared to leave.
"See you, Ezra," said Lucas, who finally left using his ability to walk at the speed of light.
He was not punished. Lucas was cast out by the vampires because of an unintentional mistake.
The only way for him to be accepted back by the vampires was to return with a pureblood human who would enrich and perfect the powers of all vampires. And Lucas had no intention of looking for that pureblood human. He is tired of war, wounded, in pain, recovering, and war again.
"It hurts..." Lucas groaned, stopping in the middle of the dark, deserted street.
Lucas suddenly found it hard to breathe. He couldn't underestimate the cut from Ezra's claw, which had easily drained his energy. Over time, his condition would worsen if his energy wasn't restored by drinking blood.
And at that moment, Lucas heard the sound of a dog barking from an apartment building not far from where he was standing. With a limp, he walked toward the barking dog, which made him smile, feeling that his life would be spared this time.
Without hesitation, Lucas grabbed the dog and bit it, sucking its blood without caring how loud the dog was barking as he began to bite. He sucked all the blood out of the dog until it no longer made a sound, a sign that the dog was no longer alive.
"W-What is that?!" a voice rang out, causing Lucas to turn around immediately.
Feeling he needed more blood, Lucas immediately attacked a man who was staring at him from the entrance of the apartment building with a terrified expression. The man screamed loudly and then fell silent.
Not stopping there, Lucas also took the two rabbits the man was carrying along with their cage and immediately sucked the blood of the rabbits under the tree.
Without Lucas realizing it, a woman was watching him from a distance. She approached him, sensing that the man she saw was in pain and needed help.
"Excuse me, sir. Is there anything I can help you with?" She touched Lucas's shoulder.
Lucas turned his head, and his fiery red eyes immediately dimmed a little when he met the gaze of the woman who greeted him. He looked at her momentarily until he could finally read the name tag pinned to her shirt.
Grace Aria Morgan. That was her name.
Lucas remembered that Ezra had repeatedly mentioned that name with a beaming expression.
"A—what did you do to the rabbits?" Grace's voice trembled with shock at what she saw.
Part of Lucas's face was covered in blood, his terrifying fangs and bloodshot eyes made Grace's body stiffen, unable to think of what to do when faced with such a startling figure.
Though stiff as a rock, Grace slowly backed away, realizing she was in danger. She was sure that the figure in front of her was a vampire, something she had only believed existed in movies. Grace even thought she was dreaming and hoped someone would wake her up.
Lucas stood up and faced Grace directly, curious to know whether the woman in front of him had a special relationship with Ezra.
"Don't... don't kill me," said Grace, continuing to walk away from Lucas.
Grace's throat felt constricted, unable to scream, her heart felt as if it were about to jump out of her chest. Her chest felt tight with overwhelming fear. Grace's vision even began to blur.
And then... She fainted.
Lucas immediately grabbed Grace's body. He stared at Grace's face for a moment, brushing aside the long hair covering her neck, then bared his fangs to suck Grace's blood.